NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, March 31, 2015, 1:31 PM
A computer belonging to Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was used to search the phrase — “The Call of Jihad” — just days before the deadly attack, a witness testified Tuesday.
The search was carried out on April 11, 2013 — four days before the bombings that left three dead and more than 200 wounded, said computer expert Mark Spencer.
Spencer’s admission came during cross-examination after he had earlier suggested only the computer owned by Tsarnaev’s older brother contained damning material.
Spencer testified that search terms on Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s computer included “detonator,” “fireworks firing system” and “gun stores in New Hampshire.”
The Tsarnaev brothers seen in surveillance footage taken at the Boston Marathon in 2013.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s Samsung computer was also used to download Al Qaeda’s Inspire magazine in 2011, Spencer said.
It was copied onto Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Sony laptop on Jan. 12, 2012 — the day Tamerlan left for Dagestan — with a notation written by the elder Tsarnaev.
"When you are working with the powder get rid of all metal things because they might detonate the powder,” Spencer testified. “Work only with wooden and plastic things.”
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who — an expert testified — downloaded and Al Qaeda magazine and searched terms such as “detonator” on his computer.
Spencer’s testimony is part of an effort by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers to show that his elder brother masterminded the attacks.
Lawyers for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, do not deny he took part in the bombings. But they contend he was pressured into the acts of terror by his 26-year-old brother.
Under direct questioning, Spencer testified that most of the activity on Tsarnaev’s Sony focused on social media sites, such as Facebook.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (c.) seen in a courtroom sketch during his trial for the Boston Marathon bombing.
But under cross-examination, he conceded that a hard drive was used to transfer several files between the brothers’ computers.
Spencer also acknowledged that there was no way for him to know who was using the computers when the different searches were carried out.
Prosecutors rested their case Monday after the jury was shown gruesome autopsy photos of 8-year-old victim Martin Richard.
The images brought some jurors to tears. Others turned away.
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